After The Storm
by kate657
Summary: It's easy to be happy when things are going well but marriage is about staying together, making it through even when things go bad.
1. 1

This is a companion piece to "Then & Now" and "The Storm After the Calm". No summary for the story at this point. Just read, review and enjoy.

**After the Storm**

Summary:

This story takes place exactly two years after the events that occurred in "The Storm After the Calm".

PEYTON & JAKE JAGIELSKI are still married. Now, in the previous story, they had three children. A son named Chris, a daughter named Elizabeth and of course, Jenny's daughter that Peyton adopted as her own when they got married. Peyton is now pregnant with their fourth child. Jake is still an assistant coach of the Ravens basketball team and Peyton still works full-time for THUD Magazine. Not much has changed on that front.

LUCAS & BROOKE SCOTT are also still married. In the previous story, Brooke had just given birth to their son, Felix. Well, she is now pregnant with their second child (a girl, by the way). Lucas is still the assistant coach of the Ravens basketball team and Brooke is still a fashion designer with her own store in the mall. Again, not much has changed with them.

HALEY & NATHAN SCOTT are not together anymore. They were married but events that will be revealed throughout the stories led to their current state: getting a divorce.

Oh, I know you're all just heartbroken now, huh? Well, I'm afraid things are about to get much worse. Other characters include Dan & Deb Scott, Karen & Keith Scott and Rachel Moore. Yep, she's BACK! The "train wreck from New Jersey" is not just going to make an appearance in this fic, she is actually a crucial character.

If you have not read, "Then & Now" or "The Storm After the Calm", I strongly suggest you read them while/before you read this fic. You might get lost. While I will provide some flashbacks from the previous stories, it might be prudent to get up to speed by reading the other stories. If you don't want to, that's fine. I know those stories (especially "The Storm After the Calm") are long so it's a lot to read. If you have a question, just ask it in a review and I'll do my best to answer it. I have no problem with that since I tend to ramble on in responding to reviews anyway (LOL). This story will move around quite a bit as I will throw in a bunch of flashbacks to explain all of the changes along the way (much like season one's season finale and season two's season premiere of the show). So I think that's enough out of me. Here's the first chapter:

Chapter 1

Nathan Scott woke up and reached out beside him. He was not surprised to find that there was no one beside him. He had just been hoping beyond hope that somehow she might still be there. He mentally shrugged and got out of bed, walking to the kitchen. He grabbed a granola bar and headed out. He waited for his brother, Lucas to pull up out front. A few seconds later, he was there, yelling at him to move his ass. "Hey, Nathan," Lucas said as he got into the truck and fastened his seatbelt. Nathan merely nodded in acknowledgment. He was not in the mood for polite chitchat today.

They drove the rest of the way in silence and Lucas pulled into a parking spot. Nathan unfastened his seatbelt and was about to open the door and groaned when he found it was locked. He pulled the lock up but it locked again. He sighed. Unlocked it, but it locked again. He turned to Lucas who had his hand on the power lock button. "What the hell?" he demanded.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell me why you've been so charming this morning," Lucas said. Nathan glared at him but Lucas only smirked in response.

"We got into a fight," Nathan replied. Lucas nodded.

"I'm assuming that by 'we' you're referring to Rachel and yourself," Lucas said. Nathan nodded. "What happened?" He sighed.

"Take a guess," Nathan said.

"She went postal and tried to throw you out a window?" Lucas joked. Nathan glared at him. "Sorry."

"It was really the stupidest thing," Nathan said in retrospect.

"Will you just tell me what happened?" Lucas asked.

"Well, I didn't want her to bring in some ugly sofa now that she's staying with me," Nathan said. Lucas looked at him in disbelief. Nathan explained that since Rachel had nowhere else to go and Nathan lived in the beach house all alone now, he agreed to let her move in with him.

"You do realize that you are still married, right? What happens when she finds out about this?" Lucas asked. Nathan shrugged.

"The divorce will be final in a matter of months," Nathan reminded him in misery. Lucas nodded.

"Well, I'll see you later," Lucas said, unlocking the doors and heading into the school to his first period class of that year. Lucas was teaching a leisure phys ed class and Nathan had two spare periods in a row. The second period, he usually had an on-call, which was in fact the case that day. He was filling in for an English teacher that had called in sick. The third period he had lunch.

Third period…

Nathan walked out of the English class and met up with Lucas and headed to the staff room. They both went to check their mailboxes when the door swung open and in walked the last person Nathan had expected to see. Nathan turned to Lucas who was smirking at him. "By the way, Haley's back," he said.

/Flashback/

"Haley!" Brooke Scott exclaimed when she opened the door. Haley smirked at Brooke and motioned towards the door. "Oh, God. Where are my manners? Come on in, of course." Haley walked in and followed Brooke into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"So, I'm making some herbal tea. Do you want some?" Brooke asked. She turned around just in time to catch the look of disgust on Haley's face.

"No thanks," Haley replied. Brooke nodded and poured one cup of herbal tea for herself. She brought it over to the table. She put it down and then carefully sat down.

"So, you're back," Brooke said, smirking.

"And you're knocked up," Haley said. Brooke widened her eyes in surprise as she burst out laughing.

"That I am," Brooke said, still chuckling. She started to fill Haley in on how long she had been pregnant and the fact that she was going to have a girl.

"Oh, that's great, Brooke. Congratulations," Haley said. Brooke nodded.

"So, where have you been?" Brooke asked. After the aftermath of Haley and Nathan's break up, Haley had left town to clear her head and attempt to piece her life back together.

"I've been in Atlanta," she replied, explaining that she had lived with her brother and helped tutor students in English while providing private vocal lessons.

"And you're back?" Brooke asked.

"Yes and I'm staying," Haley said. Brooke looked at her in concern. Haley just shook her head. "I'm fine now."

"If you say so. I know that I sure wouldn't be if I had been through all that you have," Brooke said.

"Well, what doesn't kill us will only make us stronger, right?" Haley asked. Brooke shrugged.

"Hell if I know. Haley, you were married to a guy you loved with all of your heart. You were pregnant with your son and then you weren't. Some would argue that your life was perfect and then everything fell apart," Brooke said. Haley fought back tears.

"And I've picked up the pieces," Haley said.

/End of Flashback/

Haley knew that she was going to run into Nathan again and she thought she was strong enough to handle it. But after everything that he had put her through, she wasn't sure she could handle it. "Haley," he said softly. He made a move closer to her but she stepped away.

"Stay away from me," she said. Her voice shook with emotion and she was trembling. He hesitated and took a step closer but Haley glared at him and held up her hands in a fruitless attempt to stop him. "Just stay away."


	2. 2

**Chapter 2**

/Flashback/

"Haley?" Nathan called to an empty house. He walked into the kitchen and found that the stove was not on, which was odd because when Haley came before him, she usually had some food in the oven. He walked further into the house and went to her office. He turned on the light and felt a stabbing feeling when he saw that she wasn't in it. He went to their bedroom and once again, no Haley.

Nathan walked further into the room and opened the closet and was unnerved by the fact that her clothes were gone. A gripping fear took possession over him and he walked through the house and found that the majority of Haley's things were gone. Where was she? Then he walked back in to the kitchen to get a beer but was stopped when a paper with her handwriting caught his eye. He picked it up and sighed as he read it.

Nathan,

I'm leaving you. Don't try to find me. It's over.

Haley

She had left him. The contents of the letter made him want to hit himself in the head for being so stupid. He'd destroyed her, he realized.

/End of Flashback/

"What are you doing here?" a pregnant and furious Peyton asked Nathan when she opened her front door to find him outside.

"I came to see Haley," he said.

"Haley's in Tree Hill?" Jake asked him. Then he looked at Peyton who shrank back and headed up the stairs into the kitchen. Nathan and Jake followed her. "You knew she was back and you didn't tell me?"

"I knew you would tell Nathan," Peyton replied.

"And you don't think I deserve to know that my wife is back in town?" Nathan demanded. Peyton laughed cruelly.

"Soon to be ex-wife, Nathan. You and Haley are over," she reminded him. Nathan shrugged.

"Maybe we are and maybe we aren't," he said. Peyton shook her head.

"You don't seriously think Haley came back to work things out, do you?" she asked.

"I don't know what to think of her coming back. I would like to hope that she came here for that but it doesn't seem likely," he said. Peyton nodded in agreement.

"Likely? Try impossible. Haley is beyond furious with you. In fact, she's afraid that if she sees or talks to you, you'll hurt her again. And even if she did come here for that reason, I guarantee you she'll change her mind when she learns the identity of your new roommate," Peyton said. Nathan sighed.

"Keep twisting the knife, Peyton," he said. Peyton raised her eyebrows at him.

"Don't you think you deserve it, Nathan?" she retorted.

"Peyton, come on. Ease up," Jake said.

"No! I will not EASE up on him. He deserves everything I say and more," Peyton said.

"You're out of line," Nathan reminded her.

"No, you're out of line!" Peyton exclaimed. "Coming here, expecting to talk to Haley when you cost her, her son?"

"He was my son too," Nathan said. His anger was mounting.

"Well, you should've thought about that before you decided to fool around, thus causing Haley to deliver a still-born," Peyton said. Nathan deflated.

"I'm going to find my wife," he said, leaving.

"I believe Rachel is at your house," Peyton called after him. Of course she knew that Nathan and Rachel weren't married. Nathan denied that he and Rachel were still sleeping together, but Rachel was closer to his wife than Haley was right now.

Haley sighed as she walked up to her old front door and knocked on it. She was hoping Nathan wouldn't turn this into a big thing. She just wanted to pack the rest of her things up and go to her apartment. Instead, Rachel Moore answered the door. She smiled. "Well, this is certainly a switch," she commented. Haley rolled her eyes. "I seem to remember that I was on the other side of the door and you were the one answering it not too long ago."

"That was a lifetime ago," Haley stated. Rachel smirked at the anger in her tone.

"Nathan's not here," Rachel said.

"I'm not here to see him. I'm here to get the rest of my things, that's all. So, if you don't mind," Haley said, trying to walk by her. Rachel blocked the doorway.

"Actually, I do," Rachel said.

"That was a formality, Rachel. See, personally, I don't care what you think and even if I did, it still wouldn't matter. This is still my house and I have every right to be here," Haley said.

"Well, you should care because unlike you, I live here now," Rachel pointed out. Haley would've gasped if she had not heard that already.

"Goody for you," Haley said, coming up and pushing her out of her way. She walked to her and Nathan's old room. There were boxes in the corner. She walked over to them and when she opened them, her things were inside. "Is this all of it?" Rachel was standing in the doorway.

"Yes," Rachel replied. Haley nodded, grabbed the boxes and carried them one by one to the front door and then hoisted them into her car. Just then, Nathan pulled up. He got out of his car and walked over to the two women who were standing by Haley's car. Rachel was actually helping Haley put boxes into her car.

"Can we talk?" Nathan asked, coming up behind them.

"No," Haley replied sharply. He looked at Rachel who shrugged and walked back into the house.

"Hales, come on," he said. Haley slammed the rear passenger door and turned around to face him. Fury didn't come close to describing the look of rage in her eyes.

"Don't call me that," she said. He tried to grab her hand to soothe her, make her see that he still cared but she slapped his hands away from her.

"Haley," he said.

"I don't want to hear it, Nathan," she said, attempting to get in her car but he grabbed her arm and twirled her around to face him.

"Yes, you do," he said, looking at her intensely. He could see that she still loved him and he knew he still loved her. Then, the love vanished and it was replaced by an overwhelming sadness.

"No, I don't. Because no matter what you say, it's not going to make up for all the things you've done," she said.

"If you could find it in your heart to forgive me about Rachel the first time, why can't you do it now? It doesn't have to be over. If we just talk about it, I know we can work this out or you can tell me why we can't," he said. She scoffed and then she laughed bitterly.

"You want to talk? You want an EXPLANATION?" Haley demanded angrily. He looked at her in shock. "Well, you turned your back on me, Nathan!"

"I didn't turn my back on you…" he started to say but she cut him off.

"Yes, you did with your affair and that disgusting make-out session in the lobby of the jailhouse. That I had to watch on TV!" Haley exclaimed. He looked at her in shock. "Now, I might have walked out the door, Nathan, but who left who first?"


	3. 3

**Chapter 3**

_Nathan walked into the jailhouse where Rachel had gotten arrested for yet another drug possession. He had come to post bail because he felt partly responsible for the state she was in. If his father hadn't been crazy and possessive, Rachel would probably be in New Jersey living a pretty good life. Instead, she had been pulled into his father's web and forced to do his bidding, which unfortunately, was to destroy Nathan's marriage to Haley._

_Nathan felt his blood boil at his father when he remembered just how far his father had gone to destroy his marriage. He had gone so far as to try and kill Haley. Now, of course, he denies ordering Rachel to push Haley out that window, but Nathan didn't believe him. He had to believe that Rachel never really intended to hurt Haley the way she did. So he followed the guard over to Rachel's cell. It had been three months since he'd seen her. She looked a mess._

_Her hair was in disarray. It had been obvious that someone had taken a pair of scissors to it. He looked at her. "What happened to your hair?" he asked. Rachel scoffed._

"_Some lunatic tried to cut it all off," she replied. Nathan walked with her as they went to collect her personal items._

"_Why would they do that?" he asked. Rachel stopped walking._

"_The women in here don't like it when others try to mess with a marriage, which is exactly what I did. They're even less thrilled when there are children involved. So they decided to teach me a lesson," Rachel said._

"_By cutting off your hair?" Nathan asked. Rachel shook her head._

"_By robbing me of my dignity. Cutting off my hair is hardly the worst thing they did," Rachel said. She did not sound bitter. _

"_Are you ok?" he asked. Rachel nodded._

"_I'm perfectly fine. So where is your wife?" Rachel asked. Nathan looked at her in confusion._

"_Why do you ask?" he asked._

"_Well, I can't imagine she'd be pretty happy if she knew that you were down here with me," Rachel said. Nathan smirked._

"_Haley and I are… drifting," he said softly. Rachel stopped walking and turned around._

"_I don't believe it. You have a child together," Rachel said. Nathan stiffened. "Don't you?"_

"_No," he replied. Rachel looked at him in confusion. "Haley's been in the hospital. She delivered our baby. He was still-born." Rachel gasped. _

"_What happened?" Rachel asked. Nathan felt the tears coming and he breathed in heavily as they started to flow._

"_I messed up. I cheated on Haley. She caught me, got upset and then she went into premature labour," Nathan replied, the tears coming down his face still. Rachel looked at him sympathetically. "She refuses to see me. She won't even talk to me. What am I going to do?" Rachel pulled him into a hug and muttered a few soothing words to him. It wasn't long before Nathan felt himself looking for solace in Rachel. The solace that Haley had refused to give him. He pulled Rachel tighter against him and then leaned her against a wall. Then he leaned down and kissed her firmly on the lips. Rachel, at first was surprised by the kiss, but then responded, deepening the kiss as she rammed her tongue into his mouth. It wasn't long after that that the news crew had shown up when they heard some felon was going to be released. They were in for a much bigger story as they did a live broadcast, filming "Basket Ball Star Nathan Scott's Extracurricular Activities"._

"What happened with Rachel was not what it looked like," Nathan said. Haley scoffed as she looked at him in disbelief.

"Really? Because it looked like my husband was making out with the woman who tried to kill me," Haley said.

"I wasn't making out with her," Nathan said defensively.

"Nathan, I saw you. In fact, the whole state saw you!" Haley exclaimed.

"I was looking for comfort, Haley. Comfort that you weren't willing to give me," Nathan replied. As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew they were the wrong ones. Haley recoiled and then slapped him.

"Don't you dare blame me for your failures. I didn't force you to kiss Rachel," Haley said. Nathan looked at her. "I sure as hell didn't force you to go sleep with that other girl either."

"I already paid for that mistake, Haley," Nathan said. Haley's face crumpled.

"No, Nathan. We both paid for that mistake. That mistake was what cost me my son and if you think for one second that I'm going to sympathize with what you were going through, you've got another thing coming. What you went through was completely different from what I went through," Haley retorted.

"Haley, I know and you have no idea how much I wish I could take that back. How I could take everything back…" Nathan said.

"Who cares? I really don't care about how sorry you are or what you were going through at the time because you sure as hell didn't give a damn about me!" Haley exclaimed. Nathan's head shot up in disbelief. "I'm the one who was cheated on. I'm the one who had to go through labour and deliver our dead son. I'm the one who had to watch my husband kissing another woman on national television afterwards! So don't tell me how you feel because I do not want to hear it!" Nathan grabbed her arms and pulled her to him and kissed her. Haley wrestled against him at first but then responded to the kiss.

"I felt that and I know that you did too," Nathan said against her lips when the kiss ended. Haley shook her head.

"It doesn't matter how I feel about you, Nathan. What matters is that you destroyed me and I won't put myself through it again. It's over; we're done," Haley said, pulling away. She walked back to her car, opened the door and turned around to face him. "Get used to it."


	4. 4

A/N: All right. So I've thrown in quite a bit of information into this latest chapter. So keep your eyes open. It is one of, if not the main, reasons why Haley is so angry with Nathan. Well, enough from me. Here's the chapter:

Chapter Four 

Four weeks later…

Haley was sitting in Jake and Peyton's kitchen with Brooke and Peyton. They had all agreed to meet there for lunch. It had been so long since they'd been able to sit down as friends and catch up. It was odd for Haley to be with her friends while they were both pregnant at the same time. All they talked about were appointments. They had both been pregnant before. Peyton was pregnant with her and Jake's third bilogical kid. She had adopted his daugther that he had had with his old girlfriend, Nikki. Brooke was pregnant with her and Lucas' second child. They already had a two-year-old son, Felix.

They were the same age and her friends were both close to having more than one kid and Haley still didn't have one. They were both heading into their fourth or fifth year of marriage while Haley's marriage was almost at its end as the divorce would be final in about two months. "So, Haley, how are things going at work?" Peyton asked. So they had finally realized that there was someone who was not pregnant at the table and had decided to zero in on her. She was perfectly fine just listening to Brooke gush about the crib she had just bought for her daughter. Haley exhaled.

"Fine," Haley replied. She hadn't meant to sound so irritated. Brooke and Peyton both looked at her with concern in their eyes.

"Haley, are we upsetting you?" Brooke asked. Haley smirked.

"Why would you be upsetting me?" she asked. _You were only rubbing in the fact that you have a daughter on the way. But why would that bother me?_

"Well, all we're talking about is our pregnancies, the plans we have and how our husbands are acting about it," Peyton said.

"What's your point?" Haley asked, hoping they would get that she didn't want to talk about since she was playing dumb. Apparently they weren't that intuitive as Brooke opened her mouth.

"Well, I think what Peyton is trying to say is that we're pregnant and you're not. We have husbands and…" Brooke started. Haley smirked at her bluntness and lack of propriety.

"And I'm not." Haley finished. Brooke nodded but continued.

"And maybe you feel a little left out," Brooke added. Haley exhaled.

"Well, to be honest, Brooke, I think the topic is fine. I mean, let's be honest, we really don't have that many common things in our lives right now. There's not a lot to talk about," Haley said.

"We tried to open to topic up to something a little less upsetting, but you just closed yourself off," Peyton said.

"Well, what do you want me to say about it!" Haley exclaimed. Both girls raised their heads at her. "My classes are fine. My students are excellent. But at the beginning of the day when I hear Nathan's voice on the PA talking about the last basketball game or whatever, I feel like ripping the system out of the wall."

"Is it really that bad to be working at the same place with him?" Brooke asked. Haley chuckled.

"No, it's not. I haven't seen him since the day at the house," Haley said.

"So, that's good, right?" Peyton asked. Haley felt tears spring to her eyes.

"No, it's not," Haley replied, choking back a sob.

"Why?" Brooke asked.

"Because I miss him!" Haley exclaimed.

"You do?" Peyton asked in shock. Haley nodded.

"And I hate that I do! I don't want to miss him," Haley said. Peyton and Brooke both looked at each other and then back at Haley. "I really don't but I can't help but miss him. I used to see him every single day at that school. I would sneak down to his office at lunch to see how he was just to talk to him or see how he was. Whatever."

"_Come on in," Nathan said trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. The door opened and a female laughed as she walked into the room and closed the door again. _

"_I swear, you always sound so irritated," she said. He smiled and looked up to see Haley sitting in a chair in front of his desk as she put her bag down on the other chair. He looked at his watch and realized that it was already third period. He didn't have any classes to teach until fourth and sometimes he had to do an on-call. Haley taught three out of the five periods and third period was her lunch. She usually only had fourth period free since she sometimes helped with the guitar class or did an on-call herself. _

"_You look tired," he said. _

"_Really? I'm more annoyed than tired. I just came from my grade nine vocal class and I swear, if I get one more question about Gavin DeGraw or Michelle Branch, I'm going to freak out," she said. _

"_Come on, Hales. Everyone knows you went on tour. You're practically a celebrity around here," he said. _

"_I went on tour six years ago. I should be known for more than that by now," she said. _

"_You are," he said. _

_Haley put her head on her elbow and asked, "And what is that?" _

"_You're Coach Scott's wife," he teased. She got up and walked around to his side of the desk and started swatting him. _

"_Not funny! Not funny at all!" She exclaimed as she continued to swat him. He laughed as he grabbed her by the waist and sat her on his lap. She smirked as he moved his head closer to kiss her. _

_When the kiss ended, he said, "Hello." Haley laughed as she pulled the chair that was beside him closer and moved to sit down._

Haley sighed at the memory. "And now to go from seeing him everyday to never seeing him? It's a little upsetting," she confessed.

"Haley, just think about all the things he did to you," Peyton said. Haley chuckled.

"Yeah, I know. And I hate him more than you can possibly imagine for everything he's done to me. It's pretty funny; I miss him so much, but the thought of seeing him again right now makes my blood boil," Haley said. Brooke nodded.

"That is pretty funny," Brooke commented. Both Haley and Peyton looked at her incredulously. Brooke rolled her eyes. "Not ha ha funny, but ironic kind of funny." They both laughed at her. Haley couldn't help it. It was just such a Brooke thing.

"There's no chance you'd forgive him or that you'd work things out?" Brooke asked. Haley shook her head insistently.

"Dinosaurs have a better chance of walking the Earth again than Nathan and I have at getting back together," Haley said. Brooke widened her eyes in amusement and shock as she nodded.

"He did do a number on you," Peyton commented in anger. Haley smirked at her loyalty.

"You don't know the half of it," Haley said.

"What do you mean?" Brooke asked.

"Nevermind," Haley said. Brooke looked at Peyton who shrugged. Then they decided to drop it and began discussing Peyton's latest ultrasound.

Lucas walked out of the school two days later and was surprised to find Nathan leaning against his in the parking lot. He looked like he had just received news that he had a week left to live. Intriguied, Lucas headed over to his brother. "Nathan?" Lucas said as he neared him. Nathan didn't even look up at him at first. He wiped his face of tears a few seconds later and then looked at him.

"What is it?" Nathan asked, clearing his throat of emotion.

"I was just wondering what you were doing here. You know, standing in the middle of a basically empty parking lot, leaning against your car… crying?" Lucas said.

"I was just talking to Haley," Nathan said without hesitation.

"And she punched you?" Lucas asked. His eyes were full of amusement at his own joke but he frowned when Nathan glared at him.

"No, but she definitely delivered news that felt like she punched me," he said.

"Is she leaving again?" Lucas asked. Nathan shook his head.

"_Haley, wait! Please!" Nathan exclaimed, following Haley to the parking lot. _

"_Nathan, it's been a _long_ day, so do you mind if we chat later?" Haley asked as she headed to her car. _

"_You can't keep avoiding me forever, you know? Sooner or later, you and I are going to have to talk," he said. At this, Haley turned around to face him. _

"_We've already talked," she said. Nathan looked at her._

"_I miss you, Hales," he said. Haley chuckled.  
_

"_Yeah, sure you do," Haley said. _

"_I do," he said. Haley shook her head.  
_

"_You miss me so much, you're shacking up with Rachel?" Haley asked. Nathan sighed in frustration._

"_Rachel needs a place to stay. We're not shacking up together," he said. _

"_Whatever. You don't owe me any explanations, Nathan. I'm not your wife," she said.  
_

"_Yes, you are, Haley," he reminded her. _

"_Not for much longer," Haley reminded him. Nathan sighed with frustration as he threw his hands up in the air. _

"_Fine. I came out here to talk to you peacefully but you make it so damn difficult. I can't even get a few words in without you coming up with one of your little sarcastic retorts," he said. Then, he started to walk away.  
_

"_Wait a second!" Haley exclaimed. Sheer shock that she had called after him was what made him turn around. She came over to his car. "You don't get to storm away from me in anger." _

"_Well, I did," he said and shrugged. He began fumbling in his pockets for his keys. _

"_Then, you've got a lot of nerve acting so righteous after everything you've done," Haley said. Nathan had just opened the door and that comment angered him so much, he slammed it shut again. The keys dropped to the ground. _

"_Stop doing that to me," he said. Haley looked at him in confusion. "_We _lost our son, Haley. We both did. Not just you. You're not the only one went through it. You're not the only one hurting here." Haley froze up again. _

"_I don't want to talk about it," Haley said flatly.  
_

"_Too bad. Because everytime I bring up our son or pregnancy, you freeze up. This conversation is long overdue, Haley. Now, you can hate me all you want but we need to talk about this. We both need closure on this issue," Nathan said. _

"_There will never be closure for me, Nathan. I lost way more than our son that day!" Haley exploded. _

"_I was still there, Haley. Need I remind you that you're the one who left me," he said. Haley laughed at him. _

"_Once again you assume it's all about you," she commented. _

"_Fine. Then what else did you lose?" he asked, pretending to act clueless. The thing was he had no idea how clueless he actually was. Haley bit her lip as tears sprang to her eyes. They trickled down her face.  
_

"_The ability to ever conceive," she said. Nathan looked at her in shock. _

"_What?" he began. "How is that possible?" _

"_When I gave birth to James," Haley began, uttering their son's name for the first time since she'd left. They had decided that since his last name would be Scott, they would use her maiden name for his first name and Nathan's first name for his middle name. "It somehow damaged me on the inside. So much that I can never get pregnant again."_

"What!" Lucas exclaimed in disbelief.

"Haley will never have a child," Nathan said in misery. "And it's all my fault."

A/N 2: So pretty long chapter and a big piece of information to process. Well, tell me what you thought. I'd love to know. )


	5. 5

Chapter Five

2 months later…

Haley sat in the teacher's lounge sipping some coffee and froze when she saw Nathan walk in. He usually hid out in his office for fear of running into his father who frequently visited the school. What was he doing there? She regained her composure and decided to act like she didn't see him. Maybe if she acted invincible he wouldn't notice she was there. Apparently that wasn't such a great plan because Nathan just walked right over to her. "Is this seat taken?" Nathan asked. Haley looked up at him and was confronted with a wave of love for him when she saw the pain in his eyes. He looked broken. Something was wrong so in a moment of weakness, she nodded.

"What brings you here?" she asked.

"I was looking for you," he replied. Haley put her coffee down and looked at him for some sort of explanation. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," she said. He nodded. Then he started poking at food that he had brought in a brown bag and he started to eat but Haley's impatience got the best of her. "Nathan, you're really starting to freak me out."

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"You're acting weird. Something happened, didn't it?" Haley said. He nodded. Haley looked at him.

"My mom…" he started to say but his voice cracked. He was trying hard not to cry.

"What about her?" Haley asked.

"She's in the hospital, Hales," Nathan said. Haley's head jerked up at the information. "She was hit by a car outside the café yesterday."

"But she's going to be ok, right?" Haley asked. Nathan's face crumpled as he shook his head.

"I don't know," he choked out. Haley got up and sat on the couch right beside him. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder and he reached up and put his hand over hers.

"Do you want me to go get Lucas?" Haley asked. Nathan tightened his grip on her hand as he shook his head.

"Will you just stay with me?" he asked. Haley thought about saying that Rachel could be there for him but then she remembered that he had kicked her out.

"Sure. Let me drive you to the hospital," Haley said.

"Thanks, Hales," he said, getting up and following her to her car.


	6. 6

A/N: This story has almost reached its end. There will only be one more chapter after this followed by the epilogue. You might get shocked and have a whole bunch of theories by the end of the chapter. Leave some words. Enjoy )

Chapter Six

Haley was sitting in the kitchen of her and Nathan's old house after she had received a cryptic note from Rachel to meet her at the café completely stunned by Rachel's admission. She couldn't figure out what she was feeling exactly at the news. She stared at Rachel for a second, opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. "So, you're telling me that it was you?" she asked. Rachel nodded.

"Yeah, it was," Rachel repeated.

_A week before, Haley followed Nathan into the ICU of Tree Hill Hospital and stood outside his mother's hospital room. Nathan leaned against the window and sighed. "What's wrong?" Haley asked. _

"_I don't know if I can go in there and see her," he said. He turned to face her and Haley softened at the tears streaming down his face. She cupped his cheek. _

"_You can and you will because she's your mother, Nathan," Haley said. _

"_That's exactly why this is so hard. I don't know if I can go in there and see her hooked up to all those machines. I couldn't bring myself to visit her while she was in rehab for drug abuse. Talking to her on the phone was hard enough because she sounded so weak. I'm not used to seeing my mother that way," Nathan said. Haley nodded in understanding. _

"_I'll go with you," Haley said. He looked up at her in surprise. _

"_Why would you do that?" he asked. _

"_Because I care. I've been where you are right now. I know how hard this is," she said. Nathan nodded as he remembered a year ago when Lydia James had been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. He had never seen Haley so devastated until the death of their son. _

"_Thanks," he said. "I know you don't want to be anywhere near me right now so I wanted to thank you for putting all that aside and helping us through this." Haley nodded. They walked into Deb's room together._

"What possessed you to hit an innocent woman like that?" Haley asked angrily. Rachel cowered, lowering her face in shame.

"I didn't want to hurt her," Rachel replied.

"That's not what I asked," Haley said.

"I did it for you," she said softly.

"For me? I don't want to hurt Deb," Haley said.

"For you and Nathan," Rachel said. Haley shook her head and looked at Rachel. "I wanted to help bring you together again and I figured helping him through this time with his mom would do the trick."

"Okay. What?" she asked.

"I feel guilty for my part in what happened to your marriage," Rachel said. "If I had not called Nathan that day, when I knew he was vulnerable, and given him that sob story, that kiss never would've happened." Haley laughed. "What?"

"Nathan did a whole lot worse than that kiss, Rachel. He slept with another woman before that. I found out about it and went into premature labour. Our son was still-borne and with him, I lost any chance of ever having another child of my own. And the anger and pain I went through because of that wins out over some confused kiss," Haley said.

"What are you saying?" Rachel asked.

"That kiss wasn't what ruined our relationship. It was the choices that Nathan made leading up to it that did," Haley said.

"I don't believe he slept with another woman," Rachel said dismissively.

"Well, he did," Haley said.

"How do you know?" Rachel asked.

"She came to me and told me," Haley said.

"And you _believed_ her?" Rachel asked in disbelief.

"Why?" Haley asked.

"Haley, do you realize how many women would've killed to have your life back then?" Rachel asked.

"Connect the dots, will you?" Haley asked.

"Before you got remarried, Nathan was a famous basketball player. He was almost one of the most eligible bachelors and when it came out that he was married again, a lot of women were devastated. You were married to Nathan. You shared his bed and you were pregnant with his child. You have no idea what lengths someone will go to when they want something bad enough," Rachel said.

"You mean like you did?" Haley asked. Rachel rolled her eyes.

"That was low. Besides, I didn't want Nathan because he was famous. Like you, I knew him before he went pro," Rachel said.

"Then why were you so jealous of me?" Haley asked, remembering the time Rachel had pushed her out of the window to get her out of the way.

"You have his heart and you always did. Even when we were together in college. He said he cared me, but whatever he felt for me could not hold a candle to the passion and love he feels for you. And I've always wanted a man to feel that way about me," Rachel said.

"Then maybe you should've found one who did instead of trying to take the one who felt that for me away," Haley said bitterly. Rachel smiled.

"Someday maybe I will. But not until I make amends for what I did," Rachel said.

"To Deb?" Haley asked. Rachel shook her head. She looked down for a minute. Rachel took a deep breath and began to tell Haley the whole story.


	7. 7

**Chapter Seven**

Haley narrowed her eyes into slits at Rachel. She stood up abruptly and headed for the door but Rachel followed her. "Haley, wait, please," Rachel begged as Haley began to open the door. The desperation in her voice is what made Haley turn around. "I know what you must be thinking and I don't blame you one bit."

"Don't patronize me, Rachel because let's face it: you have no idea what I'm thinking right now," Haley spat angrily. Rachel bit her lip and looked down as a child that was about to be scolded did. "After all the insidious things you've done, I really shouldn't be surprised, but I am. Why is that?" Rachel remained silent. "I'm actually asking you, Rachel." Rachel sighed and looked up at her. She simply shrugged.

"I don't know why you're surprised," Rachel admitted. Haley raised her eyebrows in surprise. At least the girl didn't have the nerve to defend herself this time.

"I guess I figured that even you wouldn't stoop so low. I know you think you love Nathan but there are things you just don't do," Haley said. Rachel raised her head. There was shame in her eyes but also some sort of innocence that sent Haley over the edge as she opened her mouth.

"I was only trying to salvage my reputation. I didn't want the whole world to know about my problems. Is that too difficult to understand?" Rachel asked. Haley just shook her head and smiled at her sarcastically.

"Oh, ok, so let me get this straight: you wanted to save yourself in Nathan's eyes so you agreed to continue to work for Dan to break us up in order to keep him from telling Nathan?" Haley asked.

"I know it seems insignificant," Rachel started. Her voice small and meek when faced with the rage in Haley's brown eyes.

"You're damn right it's insignificant because your secret cost me and Nathan our son," Haley said, walking over to Rachel threateningly. Rachel started to back away in fear but Haley continued to walk closer. "You took everything away from me. My son, my husband and if that wasn't enough, you had to take away my ability to get pregnant too!"

"I'm so sorry for your suffering, Haley. I never meant for this to happen," Rachel started.

"You don't mean for a lot of things to happen, Rachel, but they do. You're like an angel of Death; pain follows you wherever you go," Haley said, inching just a little bit closer. Rachel looked at her in fear.

"Haley, what are you doing?" Rachel asked. Haley faltered and stopped moving as she looked at Rachel in confusion. "You're not going to hurt me." It sounded more like she was trying to reassure herself. Haley looked at her thoughtfully.

"Now there's an idea I like," Haley said, coming a little closer. "If you did have some sort of accident here at the house, like, I don't know, falling through the window maybe, and I went to prison, it would almost be worth it because I would've gotten you out of my life once and for all." Rachel's eyes widened in fear and Haley reached out to grab her by the throat but then pulled away as her hands came into contact with Rachel's skin. She moved back and sighed. Then she looked at Rachel thoughtfully. "But I'm not you."

Nathan walked into his house, closed the door and locked it. He had just spent three hours with his mom in the hospital. The doctors kept telling him that they'd seen very few sons like him. Nathan had to smile at their comments because if it hadn't been for Haley, he never would've gone into see his mom that first time a week before. He wondered that if he told he nurses that bit of information, they would still be praising him for what a good son he was.

He walked down the hallway and stopped when he caught sight of Haley. He swore he must have been dreaming but turned into the kitchen. Haley was there all right. So was Rachel; looking terrified as she inched backward out the sliding door. Nathan walked deeper into the room just in time to see Haley reaching for Rachel. Her hands grazed Rachel's neck and then, out of nowhere, she pulled away. She took a few steps back and blew out a frustrated sigh as she said, "But I'm not you."

"What's going on here?" he asked. Both women jumped at the sound of his voice. Rachel's eyes widened with relief. She walked over to Nathan, looking at him apologetically.

"Rachel was just confessing her sins," Haley said matter of fact. Rachel shot a glare at her. Nathan looked at Haley in surprise. Haley just smiled at him and asked, "How's Deb?"

"She's fine. The doctor says she'll be as good as new within a few weeks," Nathan replied. Then he looked at Rachel. "What were you confessing to?"

"Her part in what happened to James," Haley replied. Nathan shot a puzzled look in Haley's direction. Haley cleared her throat and looked at Rachel. "Tell him." Rachel looked at Haley pleadingly. Haley's eyes just narrowed.

"I'm the one who's responsible for tearing your marriage apart," Rachel admitted. Haley walked over to Nathan, took him by the hand and led him to the table.

"You're going to want to sit down for this," she said. He obeyed and she sat down beside him, entwining their fingers. Haley's behaviour was probably the most unsettling thing to Nathan in this situation. What could Rachel possibly had told her to make her suddenly want to be near him? Rachel sat down across from them and began the tale.

Ten minutes later, Nathan was furious. "I don't understand. How could you have done all this from behind bars?" he asked. Rachel sighed.

"That girl was one of my buyers. She came to visit me in prison and I told her that it would be worth a year's supply for her if she seduced you," Rachel said.

"So not only did you hire drug addict to seduce me, you drugged me so she could rape me?" Nathan demanded angrily. Rachel looked down in shame as she nodded slowly. "Why, what could be so horrible that you would do such a despicable thing?"

"Your father had her under his thumb again," Haley replied for her. Nathan looked up.

"My father hired you _again_?" Nathan asked. Rachel nodded. "What did he have on you this time?"

"He was going to release a video to the public," Rachel replied. Nathan shook his head in confusion.

"A porn movie?" Nathan asked.

"Of sorts," Rachel replied. Nathan sighed. "If you believed the people that made it, it was a porn movie. Senior year of college, I went to a party one night. I got really drunk and some guys decided to take advantage of that. They led me to their dorm room…"

"They gang-raped you?" Haley asked in disbelief. A few tears had fallen down her face and Rachel wiped them away with the back of her palm as she nodded.

"Your father threatened to have the video released, but would make it look like it was consensual. He said that since he was the mayor, no one would refute it," Rachel said.

"So you did all of this to save face?" Nathan asked. She nodded. Nathan took pity on her and as he turned to look to Haley, expecting to see the same thing, but her eyes were burning with anger.

"I hope you don't expect me to feel sorry for you," Haley said. Rachel looked at her in surprise. "I understand that you've suffered, Rachel, but it's no excuse. You should've just let the tape out yourself. People may have thought you were a slut but at least they wouldn't look at you the way I do."

"What's that?" Rachel asked.

"You're a criminal," Haley replied, "You deal drugs and in your spare time, you pimp out your buyers to kill a baby."

"I never meant for your son to die, Haley," Rachel said.

"Like I said before: it doesn't matter what you meant to happen. What matters is what did happen," Haley said.


	8. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

1 month later…

Nathan sat in the café. The door opened and the bells jingled and he smiled when Haley walked over to him. She sat down and smiled. "How have you been?" she asked.

"Fine," he replied.

"Good," Haley said. They had put in a call to their lawyer to stop the finalization of the divorce so they were still married but they didn't live together. Haley had decided, or demanded, that they take a little time to get to know each other again.

"Actually that's a lie," Nathan said. Haley raised her eyebrows at him.

"What is?" she asked.

"I'm not fine," he replied. Haley's face contorted with concern.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I miss my wife," he admitted. Her face flooded with relief and then she looked at him carefully.

"I know," she said.

"I don't think you do, Hales," he said

"Nathan, I'm not doing this to punish you," Haley said. Nathan nodded knowingly.

"I know and I understand that you need time before you can learn to trust me again, but I'm going crazy not being with you," he said. Haley smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too," Haley said.

"Then, why don't you want to be with me?" he asked.

"I do want to be with you, Nathan," Haley said insistently.

"Really? Cause you've got me fooled," he said. Haley looked away from him and he could tell that she was about to cry. He cursed himself for being such an ass. "I'm sorry. I have no right to act like that. You have every right to be so cautious. I did kiss Rachel and I can't ever excuse that." Haley laughed as she turned to face him again. "What's funny?"

"This is not about kissing Rachel, Nathan. I'm over that," she said. He looked at her in shock.

"You are?" he asked.

"Well, not in the sense where it's ok that you did it but I, of all people, know what it's like to make mistakes and to need forgiveness," Haley said.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You can't possibly have forgotten," Haley said looking at him sceptically. His eyes narrowed with confusion. "If you remember a certain self-absorbed musician who talks about himself in the third person." Nathan grunted.

"How could I forget him?" Nathan asked sarcastically. Haley smirked a little.

"And you forgave me for that," Haley said.

"Five years later," he reminded her. Haley laughed and took his hand.

"We both know that I've always been quicker to forgive than you because I'm not as stubborn," Haley said. Nathan looked at her, his eyes full of amusement.

"Are you trying to tell me that you're _not_ stubborn?" he asked. She got up and sat on his knee as she hooked an arm around his shoulder.

"I am known for my patience," she said and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

"Hales, come on," Nathan said in a realistic tone. He laughed at the look of shock in her eyes.

"I had to be patient to tutor you," she said.

2 years later…

Peyton sighed as she gave one final push and the doctor cradled a wailing newborn baby girl. They cut the umbilical cord. "Now, it's time to see your mommy," the doctor cooed as he headed over to Peyton. She took the baby and then began shaking her head at the infant whose eyes widened in wonder at the new face.

"Don't look at me," Peyton told her. The doctor's face faltered.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"I was merely a vessel for a long-awaited blessing," Peyton replied. She nodded to the anxious couple outside of the room. The door opened and Peyton passed the baby to her loving mother.

"You're a surrogate?" the doctor asked. Peyton nodded.

"And a great friend," Haley Scott replied as she held her daughter. Peyton laughed.

"Just don't tell anyone," Peyton said. Haley looked at her quizzically. "You'll ruin my image." Peyton winked at her. Haley just laughed and sauntered over to the doorway.

"Natalie, I want you to meet someone," Haley said to her daughter. She handed her over to Nathan. "Your daddy." Nathan cradled her and kissed Haley on the forehead.

"Congratulations, Mom," Nathan told her. Tears trickled out of her eyes as Haley stood on her toes to plant a kiss on his mouth.

"You too," she said.

The End


End file.
